In Her Sorrow
by Krimzonrayne
Summary: You look at a person and you make a guess; pictured him in your mind so the image sticks. You live with him only to add tiny details to that illusion. And then you shatter it. Nabiki chases the truth and found out more of Ranma than she thought possible.
1. Prologue

"Do you have it?" the silhouette whispered in a deathly quiet voice.

"Yes yes," the other silhouette replied impatiently with in a softer and decidedly feminine tone of voice. "Now, will you cut that out already?"

The first silhouette ignored her exasperated reply. He _knew_ that it was better to be safe than to be sorry. If He found out, they would suffer the consequences of which no mortal would want to bear.

"Do you have the all of the money this time around?" the second asked curtly. Time is money; therefore _her_ time is _her_ money.

The first nodded silently and reached into his pocket to pass a handful of bills to her.

She took them and counted them twice before giving her customer a cursory nod. Then she reached into her bag and retrieved a single envelope. She made sure it was the right one before handing it over.

"Enjoy," she said in a voice that was void of any sincerity before turning on her heel and left without another word.

But her apparently disregard for courtesy was lost on the first silhouette who was holding the parcel with reverence and staring at it as if it would burst into flame or grow a leg or two and walk away.

"Pssst,"

The silhouette froze. He spun frantically about in search of the person who might have uttered the noise. He finally spied the person and sighed in relief once he realized that it was just his accomplice.

The accomplice approached him at a brisk walk.

"Do you have it?" he asked in an excited tone.

"Yes, but we can't look at it, not here, it's too open," the first said under his breath, casting an eye about to fend off eavesdroppers. Once he was satisfied, he leaned over and whispered. "Come, this way. We must hurry; we're almost out of time."

The two half ran half skulked over to the side of the building where they were many bushes and shrubberies about.

"Pass them over, let me see,"

The first reluctantly passed the envelope over to his partner who wasted no time in ripping one side of the envelope opened.

"Oh la la…,"

Daisuke intoned lecherously as he edged the photos out of the torn opening of the envelope and was promptly rewarded with a flash of flawless creamy white skin and many, many curves.

"Come on man, move over!" Hiroshi said, pushing his dear friend out of his way to get a better view of the content of those photos; he has paid for half so he was not about to let Daisuke hog them. He grabbed the bottom half and passed the uppermost ones over to his drooling buddy.

Knowing that once he starts he would be pretty much dead to the world, Hiroshi looked left and right to make sure there was no sign of Him first before allowing himself to stare at the photos.

Fiery-hot crimson locks, supple yet smooth unblemished skin, beauteous firm-looking curves that were glistening with sweet sticky sweat, all wrapped up in a thin veneer of silk that looked as if it was painted on; the creature inside the photo he was holding was divine with a capital D.

Hiroshi swallowed a near cupful pool of saliva that had collected in the mouth.

"Hot damn…," the horny teen could not help himself – damn, those orbs are perfect.

"Ahm, Hiroshi, Buddy…," Daisuke said hesitantly, tapping his friend on the shoulder.  
I kinda need to go to the toilet, if you know what I mean."

That snapped Hiroshi out of his trance.

"No! Damn it – we're getting them laminated first so it doesn't get smudged and stuff," he said hotly. "We agreed, remember?!"

"But, but…," the other boy stammered, holding his hand none too inconspicuously over his crouch. He _really_ needed to go, or come; he was not particularly picky at this point.

"No but! We're going to march over to the stationary office and get these plastic-coated before we do _anything_ else to it or with it," Hiroshi said with authority. Damn that boy to hell – these limited editions cost them a fortune, and he would soil them for a moment of most pleasurable, pre-heaven bliss?

"Pull yourself together, Dai!" Hiroshi said aloud, grabbing his friend on the shoulder and began dragging him forcefully out of the shrubbery next to the main building that they were hiding in. They then proceeded to sneak as stealthily as possible toward the stairs.

They have made the grand total of two and a half feet when someone walked up behind them and placed a hand of each of their respective shoulders.

"Hey you two," a loud and boisterous voice said. "Listen man, I need a favor. Could you two cover up for me in Ms. Heisu's class? You see, there's a now all-you-can-eat place called Akiyoshi that just open up. I'm pretty sure they haven't heard of me yet so I thought…,"

Hiroshi and Daisuke both gulped loudly as they turned around – that momentary silence was not momentary at all. And it did not bode well, at least not for them anyway.

Ranma, who was staring intensely at their hands – or, more specifically, what were in their hands – was now turning slowly back and forth between the two of them. His expression was bereft of any of the playfulness his jovial tone betrayed earlier.

"I hope, for your sakes, that both of you have a good explanation for these," the pigtailed boy said menacingly. The two friends shared a look of dread as they feel the grips on their shoulders tighten uncomfortably.

Daisuke froze but Hiroshi did not. He eyed his half an hour old purchases longingly for the final time before throwing the hand of his shoulder and bolted for the stairs.

"Hiro, you traitor!!!"

'Sorry Dai,' the boy apologized silently as he ran from the scene of impending excessive violence.

…

About half an hour later, after skipping Maths in order to hide from a certain lunatic martial artist, Hiroshi sneaked back to the scene of the crime. He fearfully peeked around the corner and…

"Ahhh!!!" he squealed loudly as he saw what he thought was a bloodied, mutilated corpse of his fallen comrade. He rushed over to the remains of his dear old friend Daisuke and knelt down.

"I'm so sorry Dai, I knew I shouldn't have left you behind but… I was too cowardly to face him, I'm so sorry Dai…," he abruptly paused when he heard an odd rumbling sound.

"ZZZzzzzzz…"

Hiroshi narrowed his eyes, stood up, pulled his foot back and gave the sleeping Daisuke one good kick.

"Offt!" Daisuke grunted as he was shoved forward and forced out of his slumber by the impact. "…wha?! What happened? Why am I lying on the ground with pebbles digging into my back?"

"One word: Ranma. He caught up fair and square and beat the snot out of-"

"Me! Which is not fair and square; you ran off you asshole!" the boy sat up and punched Hiroshi lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault you were doing the deer-caught-in-the-headlight thing and couldn't get away," Hiroshi defended himself. He reached down and helped his friend get up.

"Whatever," Daisuke said, patting himself off; his clothes were chockfull of dirt and grimes and his parents are not going to be happy about it. "Let's just ditch last period and get out of here. I'm not in the mood for after school's cleaning duty."

"Sure," his buddy said with a nod. He was about to start walking when he remembered something. "Hey, do you whatever happened to those photos we bought?"

"I donno, maybe Saotome dumped them into a rubbish bin somewhere," Daisuke said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Come on man, let's try to find them – those things cost us half of our last month's pocket money and we haven't even _looked_ at them yet," the unscathed boy begged.

Daisuke finally relented. After that it took them about twenty minutes before they found the photos, although they were in a slightly worse shape than the boys have thought. In fact, their reactions were along the line of…

"NOoooooooo!!!!!" Daisuke wailed. "Why, god, why?!?!"

"…what kind of a monster would do such to think to these defenseless, innocent photos?" Hiroshi said in a somber tone of voice, worthy of ones belonging to a deeply traumatized individual – as in war's veteran, wet nurses and a kid tied up in ropes of fishcakes and tossed into a pit full of starving, rabid-mad cats.

They carried on with their antics for a few more minutes before deciding to gather up the ripped photos and pieced them together one by one. It was nearing dusk when the two of them were finally done.

That was when they realized that something was wrong.

"Hey, there's only eleven here!" Hiroshi shouted. "We bought a set of a dozen, what happened to the last one?"

"Maybe Nabiki pulled a fast one on us, what do you think?" Daisuke suggested.

"Maybe…," Hiroshi said uncertainly. Still, it was unlike the Ice Queen to pull something like this. The lost in her credibility would not be worth a single photo, no matter how outrageously she was charging for each one.

"Damn it, this sucks," Daisuke suddenly yelled out at the injustice of it all.

Hiroshi could only nod.

Almost two kilometers away, the missing photo sat undamaged in the back pocket of one Ranma Saotome.

* * *

Author's Note: (I no own Ranma 1/2, Takahashi does) 

Now, I know there will be some of you who are groaning because I have started yet another fic. Well I have only this to say: too bad! Ha!

The Muses have struck the first blow and I shall repay in kind. An eye for an eye and an idea for a fic, such is the way we battle.

On the story, no, it's not actually a mystery. The prologue make looks that way but explanations will follow quickly enough.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it.

p.s. Nothing, just wanna say…

HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!!


	2. The sun came up her eyes

'In Her Sorrow'

A fanfiction by Krimzonrayne

"The sun came up her eyes; and it sets in her sorrow,

Waste another night away, regretting the day short of tomorrow,"

'In Her Sorrow' property of Ameno Kurenai.

* * *

…

"I really must protest,"

The photos moved slightly, flashing brightly from where they sat, basking the radiant afternoon rays.

"Why, last time they were merely fourteen thousand yen – a contemptible price but nothing compare to the amount you're asking now,"

The photos shifted again, revealing the ones that were hiding underneath – these ones showing a lot more skin than the previous few.

Kuno gulped loudly; was it just him or did it just get a lot hotter.

"I despise you; you_do_ know that, do you not?"

Tatewaki Kuno, the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High said gruffly as he counted out a handful of bills from his wad of cash he carries around in his pocket before thrusting them ungentlemanly toward the greedy hands of one Nabiki Tendo who began counting them herself, obviously not trusting his ability to count. Either that or she did not trust him not to shortchange her.

Kuno snorted derisively; as if a man of absolute virtue such as himself would stoop so low as to try to take advantage of a damsel no matter how nefarious that damsel maybe.

"Yeah, yeah- whatever, see you next time Kuno-baby," the Tendo girl mumbled back absentmindedly as he stood up and left. She knew he would be back when the next batch of photos comes out; he always had.

'What a moron,' Nabiki shook her head in disgust, 'when would he ever learn that he has not a chance in hell with either of them?'

She looked down that the photos that he did not pick and sighed ruefully. For a man of oh-so-much class, Kuno has no taste regarding quality of photos. She began rearranging them in two neat piles: one of Ranmas and one of Akanes. She paused when she moved to grab the last photo.

"Ah," she intoned, allowing herself a brief but pleasurable smile, her finger fondly tracing the edge of the photo.

It was one of her better ones. This one was a shot of Ranma-chan while she was doing her warm up. The fire of determination that was burning in her eyes while she was stretching made the already provocative photo that much more alluring. While this one did not exactly showcase Ranma's healthy complexion like most of the ones Kuno took, it spoke much of her character and personality – a rare Kodak moment indeed.

"What a moron," she said once again.

Nabiki Tendo was a very easy person to understand. She was no saint and she never pretends to be one. (Except when charming people to part with her riches, of course, but that's a bit different) She was very much an easy-going party girl. Growing up, she knew right away that her family's income would not allow her a life of luxury and indulgences she so crave. Not willing to just settle for less like Akane; she chose to be a genuine modern-day working class Japanese; she works hard and play harder.

Her questionable sources of income are well spent, at least in her opinion anyway. She shops when she want, enjoys delicious imported chocolate now and then and she pursues her long-time hobby.

Which hobby you ask? Why, photography, of course.

Despite what the masses may have chosen to believe, taking photos of her sister and sister-in-law to be/fiancée was something she did for fun as much as profit. Sure, there was fun in being sneaky and having blackmail material readily available but it went a little deeper than that.

Every since she had stumbled upon her Grandpapa's old 1936's Canon 35mm Rangefinder she have had this obsessive passion for camera. The perfectly preserved, first generation Canon was like the proverbial magic window for her younger self. Armed with it, she roamed the street of Nerima with a new sense a purpose and a changed view of the world; a little girl with a chunky old camera dangling from her tiny neck and a predatory smile that made everyone flinched a little on the inside.

That was until she ran out of film.

But the casing of the old film that the Rangefinder takes was outdated – the only place she could find them were either antiques-shops or the museums. Oh well, no matter, she would simply get a new camera. But that would mean money. Besides that, what if her new camera ran out of film? She would need to buy more films, and that means even more money, money that she did not have.

Much to the worriment of her parents, the seven years old would pace about her room with her cute little eyebrows etched, looking as if she was contemplating the meaning of Life, Universe and Everything.

Oh, she has had it figured out eventually, but that is another story altogether – one which we shall not delve into at the moment.

Because right now - she have potential customers.

…

"Oi Nabiki," a boy with halfheartedly combed, dark brown hair called out as he and his ever-present counterpart approached her.

"Morning Hiroshi," Nabiki said with a nod before turning to regard the other. "Daisuke. Now, what can I do for you?"

"You know that photo pack you gave us yesterday," Hiroshi said looking a bit ill at ease. He sought her eyes, as if looking for a confirmation on something. "It was a pack of twelve, yeah?"

"Yes," the older girl said slowly, recalling the boy's antics. "Was there a problem with it?"

"Well, there was only eleven in the envelope you see," Hiroshi reasoned, "So we thought that-"

"That I might've made a mistake and given you one photo short," Nabiki finished for him, smiling pleasantly all the while.

"Y…yes," the boy stuttered. He was freaking out – why was Nabiki smiling? She never smiles. Ever. This was bad, really bad. Maybe she was pissed off at something and he accused her of shortchanging; she was going to kill him off.

"I find it unlikely that I'd make that kind of mistake," she continued in her sugary sweet tone. "However, since it's only the start of lunch I'll double check for you."

The two boys nodded; too afraid to move, less the she-lion changes her mind and decided to eat them after all.

Nabiki smirked as she delved a hand into her carry bag; sometime her reputation was a source of amusement as well as income – the reaction on those two's faces were priceless. If it had occurred in one of her moodier moments then she would have been slightly sadden by the fact that they were surprised at her being nice, but for today, it was all good.

"Here we go," she said as she pulled out a thick brown paper parcel. She opened it up to reveal several thick folders. She grabbed one that was labeled 'photo sales' and flicked it open to the page with yesterday's date on it. "F, g, h… Haruhi, Heisuke…, ah ha, Hiroshi," she said pausing her finger on that row and drew it across the columns.

"Hiroshi, you bought the five thousand yen, twelve pieces, 'Ranma's afternoon's workout' pack," she continued calmly before turning up from the folio to look at the boy. "Show me the photo so I can see which one was missing."

Hiroshit and Daisuke shared a troubled look before giving each other a slow nod; this did not go unnoticed by the brown haired girl.

Hiroshi pulled out a dusty looking envelope with one side ripped opened and passed it over to Nabiki. She poured out the photos and found that they were all tapped back together after having been ripped in half and some – the slightly less conciliatory ones – shredded.

Suddenly, it all began to click in her mind.

"You couldn't even wait a few hours to open it at home, could you?" she said, noticing for the first time the bruises on Daisuke's arm. He winched and Hiroshi turned away, looking as guilty as sin.

Nabiki shook her head – boys will be boys, and sex obsessed teens will _always_ be sex obsessed teens.

She turned back to her brown parcel and took out another folder, this one containing all of her negatives of the films that she had already developed. She pulled out a strip labeled 'Ran-072' and held it up to see. After a moment of comparing she had found the one that was missing. She turned back to the two boys who were watching her attentively.

"Did one of you get a chance to look at the photos before Ranma took it off you?" she asked.

"Yeah, but only for just for a minute or so," Daisuke answered. "Why?"

"Did you see this one?" Nabiki asked, holding the strip high and pointing at the one she wanted them to look at.

Hiroshi recognized that one instantly; it was the first he saw.

"Yea," he said. "But what does it mean? Did Ranma take it?"

Nabiki did not know and she did not want Hiroshi asking questions either. If her instinct was correct – and it usually was – then she could be onto something big. Bigger than the 'Cat Fist', even. But first, to shut the two idiots up…

"I don't know and I don't particularly care," she said, interrupting the boys' trains of thought from getting to wherever they might be heading. "But by your own admittance, this proves that I have given you the correct amount of photos. And that I own you nothing."

The boys opened their mouths to protest – all thoughts regarding what Ranma might have taken and why vanished from their minds.

"However," Nabiki said loudly, interrupting them once again. "I _am_ willing to print you a new copy for only two hundred yen - to cover the cost of printing and nothing more. Do we have a deal?"

She smiled in amusement as she watched the two of them practically falling over themselves in order to do just that.

'Oh yeah, I still have it,' she thought.

* * *

…

The two lessons Nabiki had that afternoon were boring, but no more so than usual. But it had given her the time to think of a few things – for example, the whole Ranma having taken the picture mystery she has stumbled upon while she was with the two stooges during lunch time.

What she meant was; really, what did it actually signify. Sure, Ranma might have taken photo on purpose, but so what? It was not like there was a lot more to it. That photo might have pissed her one time prospective fiancé so much that he tore it into its molecular component for all she knew – he was capable of that, she was sure.

Having decided to just forget about the whole thing; she looked around her classroom in such of one of her lackey that might get the film processed for her.

"Kanao-chan," Nabiki called out, beckoning to her classmate and part-time employee. Kanao detached herself from her friends and approached the famed Ice Queen of Furinkan, still hugging the books from hers and Nabiki's last class to her chest. As Kanao navigated the maze of tables and chairs that got shuffled around when the students left, Nabiki finished gathering her school things and sat waiting upon her desk.

"Kanao-chan, I need you to take this photo and develop it for me," she said pulling the strip of films that she had shown the two stooges earlier and pointing to the picture that she presumed Ranma has taken – the one missing from the pile of ripped photos. "Now I know I normally take care of these kinds of things myself but since it has already been developed once, it's not as likely to get damaged as usual. I need another copy; do you think you can do that for me?"

The pony tailed girl hesitated for a second before reaching out with her hand. Nabiki frowned and did not give the film to her.

"Is there something I should know, Kanao-chan?" she said carefully. It was unlike Kanao to have second thoughts or even reservation when Nabiki asked something of her. "Do you have some plans you'd rather not postpone?"

"No, no!" Kanao said quickly, too quickly.

"…," Nabiki gave her the Glare, quickly ending her moment of indecision.

The other girl sighed; there was no winning with Nabiki Tendo, she should have known that already. It was better that she has come clean right then and there rather face the mounting wrath of her boss.

"Well, Nobita-kun, my boyfriend, has been complaining that I've been ignoring him lately – which is totally not true by the way, I mean, it's not our false we have to prepare for exams a little bit earlier than everyone else 'cause we want to go to a good university, right?" she spouted out in one, really ran-on sentence, leaving her face looking a little flush.

Nabiki smiled; she has heard a lot about this 'Nobita-kun' of Kanao. Ah, what she would not give to be young and foolish again. But then again, was she ever that young or that foolish?

'Wait, what am I talking about? I'm only just eighteen,' Nabiki thought suddenly.

"Anyway," Kanao began again after having caught her breath and calmed down a bit. "I kind of promised him that we'd go out for a movie and maybe dinner tonight."

Nabiki smiled reaffirmed as she spotted the happy look on the girl's face. Kanao looked up and their eyes met. She turned away, blushing slightly at having been caught fantasying about her boyfriend. She opened her mouth to offer her excuse but Nabiki held up a hand and cut her off.

"But—" the girl tried one more time.

"No buts," Nabiki said firmly, still smiling. "You've worked hard all year round and you deserve a break. I'll go develop this myself,"

"Are you sure, Boss," Kanao asked. "I mean, I can still call him and we can always do it later…,"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now scoot, you have a date and a handsome boyfriend to bedazzle, so go enjoy yourself; that's an order," she finished in a mock imperialistic tone, jokingly giving her a salute as she did so.

Kanao grinned cheek to cheek and bowed a few times before running off.

Nabiki gained a matching grin as she followed the girl's footsteps out into the corridor. She began humming Tchaikovsky's 1812th and stepping to the rhythmically to the beat as she made her way out of the school.

She only got to the stairs when someone ran into her.

"Offtp," she cried out as she felled down a couple of steps and landed on her forearms The rough concrete couple with the added weight of the person who ran into her on her back, it had hurt quite a bit.

Nabiki crawled down to the landing and pushed herself into a sitting position. She examined her arms, gingerly feeling around the bright red spots swelling on her forearms. Darn, they will definitely bruises. She prepared her trademark glare and turned to the guilty party but her intended retaliation failed as she identified the person responsible to be someone she was familiar with. Her look of surprised was quickly replaced with one of annoyance.

"Saotome," she regarded him, who was currently her, with a scowl. "To what do I own the pleasure of being _rammed_ into?"

"Heh, heh, heh," the redhead laughed nervously while slowly edged away from the girl she has accidentally angered.

Nabiki was not in a particularly chirpy mood to begin with so the sight of a powerful, though petite martial artist subconsciously backing away from a weaker and untrained girl and its humor was lost on her, but I am sure we could appreciate it.

"Whatever," the Tendo girl said; she was not exactly feeling up to confronting Ranma at the moment. "I'll let you go with a warning this tim— fuck!"

Nabiki bit her lip to stifle off another curse. The sudden jarring sensation she had felt when she supported her whole weight on those poor, abused arms was blinding. She dropped back down, momentarily overcame by the pain.

"Nabiki!" Ranma almost yelled, her sheepish impression changed to one of concern. Nabiki never swore; at least if she has then Ranma had not heard so far. She practically hopped over and offered her a hand to help her up. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm just effing fine and effing dandy," Nabiki said as she batted the proffered hand away while fixing another scowl onto her face to cover the marks of anguish that was written all over it. She scooted closer to the wall and quickly stood up all on her own accord.

The so-called Ice Queen of Furinkan did not say another as she plodded down the stairs. Ranma, who was doing her impersonation of a whipped puppy, followed closely, a step or so behind her with a look of apprehension and guilt marring her face. The odd looking pair reached the school gate in silence, it was then that Nabiki could not take it anymore.

"I wasn't just being sarcastic, you realize," she said with obvious disdain. "I'm fine; you don't have to follow me around anymore. It's not like I'll fall over and die or anything,"

Ranma did not say a word; which was rather odd considering her usual track record in keeping her mouth shut.

Nabiki shrugged, walking down the street to the photography studio she frequented; fine, if that was the way Ranma wanted to play it then she was more than happy to oblige.

…

'But still,' she thought suddenly as she remembered something. 'Do I want Ranma knowing my interest in photography?"

Nabiki turned back to the skulking form of Ranma Saotome, still dutifully following her. She was alternately staring between Nabiki and their surrounding, as if anticipating an attack to come from any direction in any form at any time.

'Or a spy,' Nabiki noted, thinking back to a certain ninja/retainer of the Kuno.

"Seriously, Ranma," she insisted one more time. "There's really no need. Now you're just being stubbornly stupid – or stupidly stubborn, whichever you prefer."

A brief moment of hesitation on the redhead's face was all it took. She quickly capitalized her attack.

"Say, didn't Kasumi say something about cooking 'sukiyaki' today?" Nabiki said offhandedly, mentally smiling at the subtle shift in Ranma's eyes and what it entailed. "Well, there's no club activity so Akane's going to home a little early tonight."

Ranma froze.

"She'll also want to cook."

She flinched.

"It'd be an awful shame for all that good beef to go to waste simply because you weren't there to distract dear little sister."

'And she buckled! Score one hundred and forty for Nabiki and score nil for Ranma,' the Tendo girl enthused.

Ranma had a far away look in her eyes for a moment before turning to her once again. She gave Nabiki one last glance before wordlessly slipped away, jumping onto a nearby fence and somersaulting her way up to a rooftop before flitted away into the setting sun.

Nabiki shook her head at the odd exchanged. Something was definitely going on with Ranma.

She filed the thought away for later use and continued on her path to the studio to get the film developed. She quicken her steps a bit, it really was getting late. Otaki-san, the owner of the place, was a good friend of her and she would not mind chatting to him outside of the normal schedule.

She reached the place about a minute later without further incident. She stopped on welcome mat and cast a last cautious look about before stepping inside.

"Nabiki-chan!" a loud yet warm and grandfatherly kind of voice greeted her.

"Otaki-san," Nabiki responded in a more commonplace tone. Too bad commonplace have no place in the house of Shinichi Otaki, one of the – if no _the_ – most vocal and outspoken man in the dying field of film photography.

"Ek-" Nabiki squeaked as she felt her lungs groaned under the weight of Otaki's bear-hug.

"Now, now," Otaki said, still not releasing her from his strong arms. "There's a delightful girl you must meet. She's normally only here today, and because you've only been coming on the weekends, you two haven't met. Since you're here today, such travesty shall not continue, we shall rectify this horrid mistake!"

Nabiki could do nothing but nodded her accent. Darn, was she or was she not glad Ranma was not there to see this?

Unbeknownst to Nabiki, only two hundreds meters away, Ranma was sat perched on an errant rooftop staring at her intently, and situated in the redhead's hands was a satchel of clothing and a single seemingly innocent photograph.

And she was not exactly smiling.

…

* * *


	3. And it sat in her sorrow

…

Nabiki was miffed.

No, make that very miffed. She has been waiting for ages for this mysterious girl whom Otaki-san has been dying to introduce.

"Otaki-san," she said finally after a few more minutes have passed. "I really don't think this girl of yours is coming in today."

"Relax Nabiki-chan," the rotund man said jovially, trying to placate the put-off girl. "I'm sure she's just running a bit late; she does that from time to time if I remember it right."

"Well," she said with a sigh. "Can I at least get started on my films? I mean, I'll be in the darkroom so you can just give me a shout whenever she comes."

"Wait…., Nabiki-chan!" the older photographer called after the Tendo girl as she fled down the hallway – in sooth, he did not know the girl was that quick on her feet.

A few rooms down the hallway, Nabiki slowed down to a walk as she got out of Otaki's line of sight. Really, there was a reason why she chose to normally come in to develop her picture on Saturday. It was the busiest day of the week for the studio and that meant she did not have to be with Otaki for so long. While that man was nice enough a friend, he really could do with a change in attitude. That grandfatherly stuff could get rather overbearing sometimes. And this new model of his – why was she so different from any other girl he has worked with anyway?

Nabiki shook her head, pushing all thought of the other girl out of her mind. She opened the door to the basement and walked down the stairs. It was quite dark and the small steps were rather treacherous with the black light. She opened another door and stepped into the darkroom and smiled as she was greeted by the signature red hue of the room's lighting.

'Some would call this creepy,' Nabiki thought idly as she sat her school bag down on a bench's top. She straightened up and looked about the small room, taking in the familiar sight of developing photos hanging from lines of hangers that ran around the room. The image of charcoaled squares dripping droplets of acetic acids and water – both of which glowed red in the presence of the amber-colored safelight. The total effect, if one were to look into the room briefly, would seem like those half-finished photos were dripping blood.

"But then again," the girl said aloud with a smile. "Some people have no sense of refinement."

Nabiki went to the stands next to the enlarger at the heart of the darkroom and put her bag down. She reached into her bag and, after fumbling around a bit in the poor lighting condition, removed her photography parcel. She found her bag of films and took out the one that Hiroshi and Daisuke want another copy of. She paused a bit and took out the ones that she was going to come here and develop tomorrow as well. Since she was here, she might as well do them all now.

She took a few bottles of various developing agents on the workbench and administered them to an empty and pre washed trays. After having prepared each of the 'baths', she reached over and switched off the safelight before charily removing the films from its lightproof container. She placed the films onto the enlarger and used it to project the image of the film onto the photographic prints that were on there

With great deal of patience and care, Nabiki removed the prints from the slot and slid them into the first bathing tray and quickly hit the start button on the timer next to her as she did so. She waited until the developing was done before she transferred them onto the second tray, this one containing the 'stopper' solutions. There were a few more steps but she proceeded through them cheerily – enjoying one of those rare moments in a day where she was allowed to indulge herself.

"Voila!" she chimed as she held up the finish product with a pair of tongs. Of course, she could not actually see anything – it was a darkroom after all. Still, the satisfaction of a job well done was there nonetheless. Too bad, she was kind of curious about that photo Ranma took. Oh well, at any rate she will be seeing it soon enough.

Nabiki left the darkroom in a much better mood than she had entered it with. There was a subtle hint of a smile that was not predatory in the slightest on her face – something that would probably scare Nerima's residents more than the usual Nabiki-esque one.

"Hey Otaki-san," she shouted out as she climbed up the stairs. "Did that girl of yours ever turned up? Because I'm all done with my films and I don't want to be late for dinner."

There was no reply.

"My older sister, Kasumi is making 'sukiyaki' tonight, you know," Nabiki continued to chatter on as she stepped closer and closer to the entrance of the photography studio.

She turned the corner and found that she had been talking to thin-air; Otaki was not in at the reception like she had thought would be.

"Otaki-san?!" she called out hesitantly but a little louder this time. Should she just leave? It was getting late but where was Otaki? It was nearing the closing time true, but the sign was still out and the door was not locked or anything.

"Yes, Nabiki-chan?" a voice said from behind her.

Nabiki jumped a little as she turned to face the previously missing man. He was looking at her questioningly – as if he has not been just suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"Ah, it was nothing. I was just wondering where you were that's all," she answered in what she hoped was her normal, non-startled voice. "Hey listen, I'm all done with my prints so I'm going to take off, okay? It's late and I don't want to miss dinner."

"Sukiyaki night, bet you don't wanna miss that eh, Nabiki-chan," he said cheerfully.

"So you did hear me," Nabiki said smilingly, shifting the strap of her bag so it would sit a little higher on her shoulder. She turned around, walked over to the door and pushed it opened with one hand before waving goodbye with another. "See you next week, Otaki-san!"

"You can always show up anytime even if you don't have films to develop, you know that right Nabiki-chan?" the slightly pudgy-looking photographer called after her. "Tomorrow's fine, too."

Nabiki beat a hasty retreat from the parlor.

'He still doesn't give up!' she thought exasperatedly.

It was a little over a month ago that Otaki began having this idea of trying to get her to be a full-time photographer after she has finish high school. He kept insisting on having her building up a portfolio so that she can apply for a photography scholarship or some such. She was half-hearted about the whole thing really – it was her hobby after all, making her hobby a career was something she did not want to do.

She shivered slightly as a cool breeze swept through the empty street. Feeling something small and wet landed on her head, Nabiki looked up and found that the sky was quite dark and that it was about to rain.

She reached for the foldable umbrella that was usually strapped to her bag. It was gone. Did she stuff it into her bag? She opened up the clips to look inside and searched more thoroughly but it was not there either. Where could it be?

'Otaki-san's reception,' Nabiki thought. 'I was in such a hurry to leave. I must have dropped it there.'

There was an ominous rumbling in the atmosphere that left the nerve on the back of her knees quivering a little. Grumbling about stupid inauspicious signs, Nabiki began jogging back up the street she had just walked down.

Soon the air was awash with the sound of trillions little droplets of rain hitting the cold concrete and the Tendo girl ran a little harder.

…

* * *

"Otaki-san," Nabiki called out between huffs of breathes as she leaned against the doorframe, panting like a dog in the middle of summer. It took her a little over five minutes to get here at a full-run yet she was still soaked to the bone. She thanked her lucky star she was reminded of her umbrella in time; she would not have been able to walk the rest of way without it, not in this condition. 

"Otaki-san?" she said again; what was it with him and the sudden disappearing acts? She resisted the urge clamor loud enough to bring him running – after all, she did have a reputation to uphold, even if it was just Otaki. Beside, how embarrassing would it be if it was not just him?

Against her better judgment, Nabiki walked passed the main reception area and into the hallway. She looked around for a bit and found a tiny ray of light escaping from underneath a doorway. Someone was using that room.

She strolled over to the door and was about to reach out for the handle when it someone threw it opened from the other side.

"…right back, Otaki-san—," the other girl paused in mid-sentence as she came in contact with a certain Tendo who was standing in front of the door just as she bustled through it.

_Thud!_

"Offpt," Nabiki cried out as she was sent careening to the floor for the second time that day. She threw her arms about, trying to regain her balance or at least land with a bit more grace and dignity than the last time. To her surprise, she felt no impact against her shapely rear.

The other girl had caught her? Whoa, some reflex – she could not even save herself.

"Thank you, miss…," Nabiki mumbled not knowing the name of the person she was thanking. Not hearing a reply, she turned up to get a better look at the other girl's face and froze at the recognition.

'Ranma?' she almost blurted out loud.

Standing in front of her was a splitting image of her sister's fiancé, the famous – or infamous, depends on how you look at it – Ranma Saotome: the best martial artist in their generation, the aqua-transsexual, the 'fiend', the Saotome's heir, and, from where Nabiki was standing, the girl in a white mini-dress, a minute vinyl belt, shimmering, black stockings and a pair of regal-looking, three-inches pumps.

"Shirayuki," the girl, Keiko, introduced herself. She bowed nervously, sounding a little more tensed than she has the right to be. "Keiko Shirayuki,"

Nabiki did a double take. She blinked a couple of times but the girl she was seeing was still plain ole Ranma-chan in a dress to her.

'Wait, Saotome in a dress,' Nabiki re-echoed the thought. 'Oh I see where this is going…,'

Nabiki faked a smile and gave the other girl a passing bow in reply to the one she had received. She had to actively resist the urge to shake her head in disbelief in front of the pseudo girl; did Ranma seriously think she could fool her? Ryoga and Kuno, she could understand, but her? She did not know if she should feel insulted.

"Nabiki-chan, Keiko-chan!" a familiar voiced called out to them. "I see you two have finally met each other."

"Oh, so this is the model you've been meaning to introduce, Otaki-san?" Nabiki said with genuine surprise. 'Wow, Saotome, a model? This is even bigger than I'd thought.'

Ranma 'I'm-a-man' Saotome cross-dressing in-secret was one thing, Ranma 'Man-amongst-man' Saotome flaunting her wares to strangers and parading about in dresses in front of cameras was something else entirely. And to think that she had almost dismiss the whole missing photo thing.

'Too bad you can't fight fate eh, _Ranma-chan_,' Nabiki thought evilly.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Otaki-san?" she turned to the plump man and said sweetly. She turned back and gave Ranma a grin.

"Oh right, I don't know how I could've forgotten," Otaki said. "Keiko-chan, this is Nabiki Tendo – she's an amateur photographer who could put me out of business at any time she wanted – she's just biding her time to make it all the more painful for me."

Nabiki smiled and 'Keiko' giggled politely.

"Nabiki-chan," Otaki said, turning to her this time. "This is Keiko Shirayuki – she's a model and a photography hobbyist. She doesn't know that much about camera's yet but we're working on it."

At this point, Otaki pretended that he was being spied upon and looked around a bit before leaning over and saying the next part in a stage whisper. "Psst, I've been trying to convert her to Canon, don't tell anyone."

They all laughed a little harder at that. Otaki _loved_ the Nikons – he has been subtly and not-so-subtly trying to convince people to use them for years. There was not way he could be telling the truth.

"Please to make you acquaintance, Tendo-san," Ranma said, turning to and bowing politely once again at Nabiki.

Nabiki nodded numbly back, having hundreds of thoughts running through her mind at the time.

'He still doesn't know that I've found out,' she thought incredulously, practically smirking at the irony of it all. 'Oh, this is just too good an opportunity to pass up.'

"Please, call me Nabiki," she said with a grin. "I was never too good with formality and I'm sure we'll get a long fine."

Ranma smiled apprehensively in reply – it could have been chalked up as 'Keiko' just being shy but Nabiki knew better.

"Please you two, come on in here," Otaki interrupted. "There's no reason to talk in the hallway when we have a couple of perfectly good chairs in here."

"Oh right," Ranma mumbled. She was turning about when Nabiki laid her hand softly on the shorter girl's shoulder. Nabiki smirked as she felt the girl tensed up.

"But Keiko-chan, didn't I hear you were going to the restroom?" Nabiki reminded the redhead innocently, a sliver of an idea beginning to take shape inside her mischievous mind. She wanted a confirmation but for that she needed them to be alone and this just might do the trick. "Say, how about I come with you? I need to dry off as well."

Ranma stammered. She tried frantically to come up with an excuse but Nabiki quickly maneuvered her down the hallway. Within half a minute of dragging, the two of them was at the toilet near the reception where, upon arriving, Nabiki all but shoved the smaller girl through the door.

"Nabiki-chan!" Ranma in disguise protested weakly at being manhandled.

The Tendo girl did not answer her. Instead, she pushed Ranma into the only cubicle in there and followed. Still ignoring the redhead, Nabiki spun around, closed the door and locked it – forcing the two of them closer together in the already cramped space.

Nabiki turned around and found Ranma staring at her almost fearfully. She smiled evilly before advancing on the girl's petite form. There was not much physical advancement with them being stuck in a cubicle and all, but the intended message was delivered in full. Ranma seemed to have shrunk a couple of inches. She took half a step backward and half sat half felled onto the toilet seat, looking as if she was about to wet herself.

Then Nabiki burst out laughing.

Ranma seemed to have gone into shock. Her eyes practically tripled in diameter and she had the facial expression of someone who has just been shot several times with a seriously realistic-looking toy gun. If she has had her hair in the usual pigtail right at that moment then Nabiki would have bet good money that it would have jumped straight up like the tail of a spooked cat.

Nabiki continued to laugh, hugging her sides like her ribs were killing her as she did so. She finally seemed to have had enough and leaned against the door huffing and puffing like a wolf who was trying blow down a house.

"Alright Saotome, what's with _that_ get up?" she managed a word or two between her breathing, her eyes now twinkling with mirth. "And the way you're talking, oh god…,"

She started laughing again as Ranma's eyes boggled in astonishment.

"Wha-?" was all the other girl could utter after a full second of complete silence. She tried and stumbled over her tongue a few times before she was able to put together a coherent sentence. "What are you talking about Nabiki-san? My name is Keiko Shirayuki not—"

Nabiki cut her off with a raised palm, still clutching her stomach with the other as she continued to laugh hysterically. "Seriously, Saotome, you're too much! The way you kept going on and on about you manhood, I never would've thought…,"

"H-Hey! W-Wait a second!" Ranma tried to interject to no avail. "It's not what you think!"

"Really? You mean, you're not pretending to be a girl and secretly modeling for Otaki-san?" Nabiki jibed.

"No…, well, yes," Ranma tried to explain. "But it's not like that, okay!? It's not what you think."

"That's the second time you've said that, Saotome," Nabiki noted, inching forward with a decidedly insincere look on her face. "What do you think I'm thinking?"

"Y-You're thinking t-that I-I…," Ranma said, gulping nervously. She tried to covertly turn away from the older girl but the close proximity made the slightest of movement obvious to both of them. "You know, that I'm…, _that way_."

"What 'way', Saotome?" Nabiki leaned closer, part teased part urged Ranma on as she struggled with her words and her self-imposed difficulty with regards to them. "You tell me; what exactly am I supposed to be thinking?"

"That I'm some kind of sissy boy who likes make-up and playing with dolls and crap!" Ranma all but shouted; her body shook and her eyes were wide shut.

Nabiki jumped forward and slapped a hand over the trembling girl's mouth. She silently prayed that Otaki did not hear that. She did not know how thick the walls of the studio are but Ranma was _loud_.

"Shoosh!" she hissed softly, loosening her grip of the slight girl somewhat as she did so. "You want Otaki finding out about your little secret?"

Ranma shook her head. If she did not know better, Nabiki could have sworn she saw a hint of tear and a flash of genuine fear in the smaller girl's eyes. She did not give it a lot of thought though; the notion of infallible martial artist Ranma Saotome being a trembling, vulnerable girl in her hands was quite forbidding enough as it was – adding the possibility of her being tearful and fearful, well, let just say something are best left alone.

'Damn it, how did it get to this?' Nabiki mentally grumbled, trying not to thin about the twin mounds of flesh pressing up against her at that point. 'Point? More like points… two, to be exact…, Gah! What the heck am I thinking?"

"Ahm," the Tendo girl said slowly, trying to think of something to saw in the awkward situation. "So why _did_ you started modeling for Otaki? I mean, you said that it's not because of you like being a girl right?"

Nabiki waited in silence for a moment for a reply. She eventually got one, however, it was not the one she had been expecting.

"Crap, we've been in here for too long," Ranma blurted out, suddenly sitting up in alarm. "Otaki-san must've noticed by now!"

Nabiki froze. She had completely forgotten about that little fact.

"Quick!" Ranma said with desperate urgency. For some reason, she seemed to really want to keep Otaki oblivious to her curse and true nature. She took hold of Nabiki's arm and rushed them out of the restroom.

Nabiki heart thumped loudly as she felt the heat from the other girl's small hand. She had been intended to actually dry herself as well as finding the truth about Ranma but it seemed that that has been forgotten in the heat of the moment. It was no big deal because her cloths were mostly dry by now anyway.

Mostly being the practical word, because her perspiration was dampening her drying uniform.

…

After a bit of debate Ranma, as Keiko, managed to convinced – with promises of coming back the tomorrow – Otaki that she was not feeling well and that she wanted to leave early today. They both bid the kind man abate persistent man farewell and left his photography studio for the last time that day.

Sometime during Nabiki's revisit at Otaki's parlor the rain has stopped and the night wind rapidly swept the sticky, humid feelings from the air. It was a welcoming and pleasant night for a walk and the two of them shared it in profound silence.

About half a kilometer away from the Tendo's compound Ranma halted her stride. Nabiki, who had walked on, spun about to face the redhead, she ignored the gnawing feeling growing inside of her. What was wrong? Have she said something offensive?

"I got to split," Ranma said using the masculine 'boku' for 'I' instead of the feminine form she had been using earlier. "I can go in there looking like this now, can I? And I can't arrive with you either, you know."

Nabiki nodded in understanding.

"Alright," she said loftily. "But you owe me an explanation Saotome, and you know I always collect what I'm owed."

"…tomorrow?" Ranma offered.

Nabiki tapped her finger against her chin thoughtfully. She would rather find out as soon as possible but the risk of being seen talking to Ranma in their house was too great. She could wait.

"Tomorrow," she conceded but still managed to do it with a stern tone of voice.

Ranma gave the Tendo girl a rather strained smile at that small victory. She hefted her satchel aloft and pushed off with her feet. Having seen similarly unbelievable feats from Ranma, Nabiki did not bat an eyelash as the petite girl flew almost twenty meters straight up and landed on a near-by rooftop.

Unbeknownst to Nabiki, as she turned away, separated by only twenty meters worth of air and the pale moonlight, a naked Ranma-chan sat cradling in the darkness as she went about her transformation from Keiko Shirayuki the model into Ranma Saotome the martial artist.

Her face was wet, but only because of the night's fog.

…


	4. Waste another night away

…

The rest of the way home was quieter yet noisier at the same time.

Without Ranma at her side, Nabiki – or rather, her self-confessedly paranoid mind – began to notice small and innocuous things like the creaking crickets, her echoing footsteps, the fogs, and the whispering wind more and more. She tried to ignore it. She began to carefully take in her surrounding like a good Japanese girl – mindful of any treat from the most treacherous beast roaming the streets of Tokyo: man.

Soon, though, her eyes were drawn to the only signs of movements she could spotted: her titillating shadow that was currently attached to her feet.

It darted about, back and forth, as she made her way down the footpath laden with night lamps. It lengthened and shortened almost imperceptibly as she walked from one source of light to another, looking almost like a giggling clown or, perhaps, a demented silhouette.

Watching it, Nabiki noted, was a little macabre: morbid, dark and altogether rather depressing.

'What if there are two of them?' Nabiki thought errantly. 'Side by side – would that makes it better? Could two merrily dancing shades possibly be less morbid than one lonely one?'

Nabiki shook her head to clear the result of her latest tangential endeavor from her mind. She blinked in surprise as she took in her surrounding and the familiar wooden door that was now appeared to be standing in front of her.

She was home.

…

After that brief pause has passed, Nabiki reached out with a slightly shaking hand and gripped the door's handle and attempted to turn. Attempted, being the practical word here, because it only moved a good half inch before refusing to budge anymore.

Nabiki drew blank for a moment then she realized – it was dark already. But still… she could not remember the last time she had gotten home so late that Kasumi has to lock the door.

Putting the nostalgic moment aside, she propped her hand up and rapped on the wooden door thrice with her knuckle. Within a minute the door was opened.

"Nabiki?" Akane, Nabiki's younger sister, said from behind the door. "Where've you been? Dad was really worried about you, you know."

"Hey can we do this later Akane?" Nabiki brushed her off deftly, slipping pass the girl into the entrance area. Before the younger girl has known what happened, Nabiki was already walking away – having somehow taken her shoes off while Akane was still turned around. "It's 'sukiyaki' tonight, right? Great, I'm starving."

Akane muttered something about a 'callous mercenary girl' before following in her older sister footsteps back into the dining area. But just as she was about to do so, that same obnoxious voice yelled back.

"Lock the door!"

The youngest of the Tendo girls grumbled as she turned around and re-locked the door.

Nabiki beamed happily as she slipped her foot under the dinning table. She sighed contentedly as she felt the warmth ebbing in and chasing away the coldness from her feet. Ah, dear ole 'kotatsu' – it was one of those rare tradition inventions that still retains its use in comparison to their more modern equivalents. It is, typically, a low-sat table with built-in heater underneath and thick blankets covering all the sides to trap the heat in – simple yes, but effective? Absolutely.

Nabiki ignored the glare Akane gave her as she reclaimed her seat on the table. To infuriate the girl even further, Nabiki leaned over and quickly snatched a piece of beef floating in the pot directly in front of Akane.

"Nabiki-chan!" Kasumi's soft lady-like voice chastised the girl. "We still have to wait for Ranma-kun, remember? And he's not here yet."

"Alright, alright," Nabiki said mutely, feigning a look of compliance. She waited until her older sister turned away before started munching on the piece of beef she had recently procured, smirking at Akane who was fuming lightly all the while.

Akane soon got tired of glaring at Nabiki and began glancing restlessly toward the entrance. There was a hint of worriment in those eyes - that much, Nabiki knew. They were so together since that very first day where Akane broke the old table over Ranmas' head. But really though, sometime she wished they would get just over their denial and get on with it. It would probably save a lot of people from heartaches in the long run.

Quite a lot people, too, now that she have actually thought about it.

Suddenly there was a resounding splash that came from the backyard. While Akane scrambled out of her seat to find out what that was Nabiki was already grinning in realization.

"_Come out, I know you're in there…,"_ Akane yelled from somewhere outside of the veranda. There was a momentary pause as the so-called stranger showed herself to the young woman. _"…Ranma?!"_

"…_," _the loud groan that followed, Nabiki assumed, was most likely the only kind of reply Ranma managed after falling from a great height into an extremely shallow pond. It was rather like him/her to think that landing on water is less painful than on dry-land – after all, who else would disregard a minor fact such as the pond being only two feet deep like that?

"_Ranma! Are you alright?"_

"_I'm fine, really, so just stay there. Don't come in here, alright?!"_

"_Hey, I'm trying to help you here, you ungrateful jerk!"_

"_Weren't you listening? I said 'don't'; you're such a clumsy tomboy and the bottom of the pond is covered with— watch out!" _

"_Eeeekkkk!!!"_

"…_,"_

"…_,"_

Nabiki cocked her head to the side; what was with the sudden quietness?

"_Ranma, you pervert!!!"_

_SLAP_

"_It was an accident you idiot! I was trying to help you."_

"_Any excuse to cop of a feel, eh, Ranma? You're despicable!"_

"_Why would I want to touch your small breasts? Mine are a lot bigger and…,"_

"_What's that suppose to mean, Ranma? What perverted things have you been doing?_

"…,"

"…_Get back here, Ranma Saotome!!!"  
_

…

'Ranma, Ranma, Ranma,' the shorthaired girl chuckled amusedly. 'You've got to lose that habit of making an entrance.'

In that odd little moment, the fact that she had just thought off Ranma by his first name completely escaped Nabiki's mind.

In fact, it was probably blowing raspberry at her as it ran away too, not that she would know, of course, all smiling and staring starry-eyed like that.

Kasumi blinked in surprise as she took in the glints in her younger sister's eyes; this was a surprising development.

* * *

Nabiki tapped her foot absentmindedly against the wall. She has politely declined Otaki's offer to sit inside, choosing instead to stand out here and wait for Ranma to arrive in the hot, hot Saturday's morning's sun. She glanced up for the umpteenth time and looked up the narrow street called Ifukawa that 'Otaki's Photography' was situated upon. 

'You have better not stood me up, Saotome,' Nabiki grumbled. 'Or there'll be Hell to pay.'

After the dinner's debacle, Nabiki, as she had predicted, has not been able to get even a second alone with the pigtailed boy. What she has managed to do, though, was passing him a note reminding him exactly what they would be doing today.

Well, that was not exactly precise; it should actually read 'reminding _her_' and not _him_.

After all, it was not Ranma Saotome she was expecting to show up here today, no, Keiko, Keiko Shiruyuki the model was whom she going to be doing a photo-shoot with today.

It was not because she wanted extra blackmailing material on Ranma or anything. No, the reason she has asked her to come here today was because she wanted to find out what was actually the reason that he has been pretending to be this girl, Keiko. That and, well, other stuff too, she guessed, like how serious was Ranma about the modeling thing.

So that why here she was, leaning against a wall, waiting for Ranma to show up in her disguise.

The doorbell chimed lightly as someone walked out from the photography studio. Disturbed from her spacing out, Nabiki turned her head around to see who it was that just came out. She quickly recognized the man's large frame as that of Otaki, the jovial photographer and owner of the studio.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather wait inside, Nabiki-chan?" he offered affably, gesturing toward the entrance which he quite soundly blocked with his own body. "I really appreciate you doing this for me, you know. I know it has been a long time since you've last did a shoot and how close it is to your exams…, and then to make you wait outside like this…,"

"It's alright, Otaki-san," Nabiki reaffirmed. She glanced around to see if Ranma had arrived or not – there was still no sign of her. "I'm sure it won't be long now before Keiko arrives."

"Well, it that's the case I guess I'll just— oh there she's now." Otaki broke off sharply before exclaiming in a happy tone of voice.

Nabiki veered her head around, following his gaze to where they had stopped at a young and striking-looking redhead clamoring down the street in a pair of heels. She seemed to be leaving a trail of drools and bug-eyed males in her wake – not that surprising if you consider how her prominent assets bounced as she ran. Nabiki eyes never left the girls –eh, the girl, no 's' – as she made her way toward Otaki and Nabiki.

She swallowed the copious amount saliva that seemed to have collected in her mouth before making a mental note to invest in heart medication. She has a feeling that the demand for it will exceed the supply one day some day soon.

The jiggling girl came to a stop a few steps in front of the two of them, somehow not even breathing heavily after that little exertion. She turned to face them and flushed a bit.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I got a little caught up in something on the way here."

"Well, in the future please factor in the time for taking care of your previous,_engagements_ so that you wouldn't be late" Nabiki said acidly. So what if Ranma had to take care of the fiancées – that did not change the fact that she made _her_ waited for almost fifteen minutes.

"Well, sorry for not being so 'socially independent' that I don't have to spare a thought of what people might thinks or wonders where I am," Ranma, as Keiko, bit back scathingly.

Nabiki baulked at the level of command of Japanese the girl was exhibiting – was there no end of the surprises she was getting these days?

"Girls, girls…, please! Be civil," Otaki stepped in to prevent the impending catfight. "Really, Nabiki-chan, however late it maybe, she's here now, so let's just go in and get started shall we? And Keiko-chan, please don't make a habit out of this, okay? Little things like being on time and being responsible counts in this business."

"But Otaki-san," the redhead try to protest. She looked like she has a world to say and but Otaki cut her off nevertheless. The man's firm stare, Nabiki noted, was quite effective on Ranma. She piped down and silently fumed.

Nabiki smirked at Ranma and quickly stepped inside before the other girl could retaliate.

The doorbell ring crinkled softly and she was greeted with much welcomed cool air. The fact that it was still early in the day coupled with it being Saturday made the reception room a rather vacant place. She gave the old couple who was probably getting their photo developed a polite smile before making her way passed the counter and into the back area.

As she walked idly down the hallway, Nabiki began going over the standard procedures of a second tier photo-shoot. It was not too terribly confusing really – just go in early on the day with a firm idea on what you want out of the shoot, communicate with the models and take breaks when the energy drops. After that, all that you have to do was develops the films – which is not done one the day anyway, so no problem there. Most of the time photo-shoots went off without a hitch; this is because seventy percent of the work was already done before the day. So, really, she had not a thing to worry about.

Well, actually, there was just one tiny little thing that the photographer, her, has to worry about really.

You see, the model was, in actuality, Ranma 'the chauvinistic man-amongst-man' Saotome.

Why should that be a problem? Well, Nabiki has a feeling she will be finding that out real soon.

…

An uneventful quarter of an hour later, Nabiki was just finishing up the assembling of her scenes; props, stages and backgrounds were all strewn up and placed together in a simple but elegant fashion. She took a step back and surveyed her work one more time before giving herself a proverbial thump's-up.

'Now, all that's left to do is—," Nabiki did not get to finish that thought because someone chose that precise moment to enter the set.

"My, my, Nabiki-chan," Otaki uttered with wonderment. "You've certainly not lost your touch. This is stunning."

Nabiki beamed. And stunning it was. The Tendo girl almost broke into a smile when she saw Ranma stumbled a little as she walked in and saw the set.

Nabiki did not do that though – she was too consumed by how grand and refined was looking right now.

The pseudo girl was currently garbed in a long, flowing dinner dress that looked a lot like a negligee stretching over her impressive attributes. It was black, sleek and shimmering, and it made her looked a million bucks. The high side-cut showed a scandalous amount of thigh and made her legs looked as if they went on forever. Her shorter-than-average height, which was usual a negative, allowed Ranma to wear one of the taller heels without looking over-the-top; now, Nabiki did not know why Otaki has a pair of 4 inches, black sandal-strapped stilettos but they shaped Ranma's carves sublimely and just finished that 'eyes-on-me' look.

In short, if Nabiki has Y-chromosome, she would be openly drooling.

She regained her composure and turned to address Otaki's comment.

"Thanks for the praise Otaki-san," Nabiki said, immediately at ease with the familiar mild-mannered man. "But fifteen minutes is really a rush job, no matter how you look at it."

"You give yourself too little credit, you know," Otaki insisted. He looked over the set one more time – openly admiring the work and efforts the young girl has put into it. "Really, this contrasting sense of aestheticism and homely ambience, as well as this level of details of the stage is hard to explain and even harder to create, especially in under a quarter an hour."

Nabiki continued smiling; Otaki was always good with praises – the fact that he was not so free with them, and that he was quite frank when it comes to his criticism, only adds to that.

Nabiki turned to Ranma and they locked eyes for a second. A shard of mutual respect passed between the two of them and they both came to the decision to forgo the meticulous praises and just get on with it.

"I guess we should get started," the Tendo girl stated before moving over to the cameras.

Ranma followed hesitantly, moving, in a round about sort of way, over to one of the props. She sat down on the sofa and glanced around looking rather bored. She eventually spotted something during her browse. She was reaching over to touch the onyx headlamp standing next to the sofa when Nabiki saw what she was about to do.

'In hindsight, I guess I should've taught Ranma the proper photography etiquettes as well instead of just letting her play around with self-portraits and doing candid poses,' Otaki thought before winching at the oncoming jump in volume. 'Oh well, too late now.'

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Nabiki roared, looking up from the view-finder of the camera she was fine-tuning. "Don't touch that!"

Ranma jumped, startled. She froze, looking every bit like the metaphorical deer that was caught in the headlight of a car, her hand hanging unnaturally in mid-air.

"Just…, _sit there_!" Nabiki said exasperatedly, pointing a shaking finger at Ranma. "And don't touch _anything_!"

The redheaded model nodded vigorously. Finding herself still at the receiving of Nabiki's infamous Glare, Ranma wisely snatched her hand back and plopped it down on her lap like any prim and proper lady would whilst they sit.

Otaki shook his head wryly but did not say anything.

Growling with obvious distaste, Nabiki turned back to her work. She moved from the camera to lightings to the spurious furniture, configuring each one and adding the finish touch based upon 'Keiko's' sense of character, presence and current mode of dress – or wardrobe, as she sometimes called it.

Finally she was done.

She turned to the model with a grim look on her face – although, whether it was one of resignation or determination was a hard call to make.

"Alright," she eventually said after several moment of staring critically at Ranma. "Since it seemed you've practically no idea on how an actual photo-shoot supposed to go down, I guess I'll just have to go over the basics with you."

Nabiki moved a bit closer to Ranma and continued in a practiced voice. She avoided eye-contact and was treating this with an air of detachment, trying to be as platonic as possible.

"The first rule is to make the photographer's life easy – because, well, if you make my life terrible and I'll personally make sure you suffer the same fate," she began evenly. "The reason you're being hired as a professional model and we're not pulling someone off the street is that you're going to do things that will allow the shoot to go quickly, easily, and more successfully."

Nabiki walked over to Ranma and plucked an errant strand of hair back into place before continuing in the same professional tone.

The redhead shivered at the close proximity and how cold the other girl was acting.

"I can take anyone off the street and make him or her look good - that is what glamour portraiture is all about - but a model who knows what she or he is doing will allow me to get the job done in less time and with a lot less hassle. That's why we pay you the big bucks."

"Second bit is communication," Nabiki broke off, turning away, and suddenly leaving Ranma, who was hanging onto her every word, in a lurch. "You need to follow the verbal instructions of the photographer and give feed back. As a model and a photographer work together more, this give and take becomes easier, but the first time out it can take a while to develop a rapport. Also, it is important to establish a touch-or-don't-touch understanding up front."

She turned around and walked back to her main camera.

"When working with large format cameras – such as this one," she said, patting lightly and almost fondly at her Panasonic that was sitting upon a tripod. "The posing can be very slow and precise. It may be quicker and easier for me to physically move you and your arms, head and legs where I want them. If you're uncomfortable with that or other posing issues, please state it up front, okay?"

Ranma could only nod; she was clearly entranced. And so she should be, this was, after all, a side of Nabiki the young martial artist has never ever seen before.

"Good, because this is one time it is better not to make the photographer's life easier if it is going to make your life miserable. All of this should get worked out and become part of the professional working relationship," Nabiki said with a responding nod. She turned to her right, apparently focusing her attention of adjusting a light fixture. She launched back into her little lecture without missing a beat.

"Another challenging part of the photo shoot process is trying to stay relaxed and comfortable. I may be telling you where your main light is, where your posing spot is, the expression I want, having your arms and legs going in different directions, while a crowd of people might be looking on, and through this all you have to stay relaxed so the tension doesn't show on your face. If only it was all rock music playing and dancing around in front of the camera like they show on TV."

Nabiki finally dispensed with the act and moved closer to Ranma. The girl was staring avidly at her, eyes widen and pupils dilated. She was definitely paying attention, to say the least.

"Now, do you think you got all that?" she asked, kindly as well as seriously this time.

"Y-Yes," Ranma answered with only traceable amount of uncertainty.

"Good, then let's get started."

* * *

"Colder… colder… good! Now, relax your arm…, wonderful! Now hold that!" 

The shutter clicked and the film whirled. Nabki took her eyes off the viewfinder for a second to beam at Keiko.

"Repose!" she called out to the younger girl before adding with genuine approval. "You're doing great, Keiko-chan."

The model gave Nabiki a brief smile in return before reverting back to her character by fixing a look of indifferent on her face. Nabiki grinned widened as she snapped off a few more shots without needing to tell Keiko what to do or give her further instructions. Today the theme of the shoot was one of a photogenic but materialistic young woman; and while she struggled somewhat at first, Keiko eventually got into it. The poses were beautiful and Nabiki was sure the photos will comes out superbly.

The two of them managed a few more shots before the energy dropped. Keiko wanted to keep going but Nabiki, who was the more experienced of the two, knew better; if the electricity was not there then there was no point. Keiko went and got changed and Nabiki started taking apart the set. They were finishing pack-up when Otaki poked his head in.

"I see the two of you had finally has enough," the man said, sounding rather aloft. "About time too - to be honest, I was beginning to get worried."

"What do you mean, Otaki-san?" Nabiki asked in confusion; she was dissembling her cameras and putting them back into their cases.

"Yea, Otaki-san, why would you be…," Keiko trailed off as she saw something on the far wall.

Nabiki followed the redhead's gaze and spotted what it was that she was looking at. It was a clock, and it read, '2:17 p.m.'.

"Oh," she muttered.

"Yes, 'oh'," Otaki said in a chiding tone. "I can't believe the two of you were at it for over three hours – and not even breaking for lunch like that as well."

"Sorry," the two said in unison. They shared a sheepish look before turning away smiling.

"Nah, it's fine, really," Otaki said, waving off their apology. He cocked his head to the side as if considering something. "Say, why don't you two take off and go find something to eat? I'll finish this up for you, you two are bound to be famished by now."

Nabiki was about to politely decline when an odd rumbling sound permeated through the area. She glanced to Keiko and found her blushing guiltily. The thought that a delicate model like her could do something so common brought a smile to Nabiki's face. That rumbling stomach was as loud as…

The Tendo girl suddenly froze in shock; without realizing it, she has been thinking of Ranma and Keiko as two separate people.

She numbly allowed the thought to fall away; it was best she thought more about it in detail later.

"Thanks a lot for this Otaki-san," she said by way of officially taking him up on his offer.

"No problems, I'm sure Keiko-chan needed this anyway," Otaki said, winking at Ranma.

The two of them made their way out of the photography studio and down the road. Nabiki told Ranma they were heading to a shopping arcade where they can find a neat little café with a lunch discount on weekends. They were both quiet during the way.

'What the heck happened, Nabiki?' Nabiki asked herself as she walked along side Ranma toward the shopping arcade. 'You were supposed to get Ranma alone so you can ask him about the cross-dressing thing – not spend the whole day doing a photo-shoot.'

Dazed and confused, Nabiki missed the warning cry from Ranma and walked straight-on into another girl.

"Offtp," she cried in pain as she collide head-first into the other person. She stumbled back half a step and was about to fall over when Ranma quickly caught her.

With her blurry vision, she slowly made out the details of the other girl and realized why Ranma just went quiet.

The person she has just walked into was Akane Tendo, her younger sister.

"Ouchie…," Akane moaned softly, running a tentative finger over a budding bump in her forehead. "Hey, watch where you're going…, Nabiki?!"

Nabiki's mind raced; what are the odds of Akane not realizing that it was Ranma in disguise that was standing behind her? Not great.

However, whatever planned she might have concocted all went straight to hell when Akane craned her head to take a look over her sister's shoulder and said in surprise.

"Shirayuki-san?"

…

Unbeknownst to Nabiki, not even a few inches behind her, Ranma's heart just skipped a beat - her adrenaline gland going into overdrive.


	5. For a day short of tomorrow

…

Does anybody know what_'non sequitur'_ means?

It is literally Latin for 'does not follow' usually used in application to a set of events that failed to add up or a fallacy in logic. Well, Nabiki was felt like it explains her situation quite well – why on Earth would Akane know Ranma as Keiko Shirayuki? It did not even make the slightest bit of sense.

Unless…

"Tendo-san…," Ranma answered back hesitantly. She did not say anything further and looked altogether like she was trying to buy some time to think. She gave Akane an unusually stiff bow. "Good afternoon, how do you do?"

Nabiki blinked in surprise as Akane bowed deeply in return. She mumbled a quiet reply that Nabiki could not quite catch. It was an odd sight to see – a tomboyish girl like Akane bowing so regally to someone around her own age. Nabiki noticed that Akane kept on stealing glances at her.

'Ah, so little sis is as nervous as I am,' she thought but did not voiced her realization. 'This is keeps getting better and better…,'

"I didn't know you knew my sister, Shirayuki-san," Akane politely asked Ranma.

"I've afraid you misunderstood, Tendo-san," Ranma answered. She nodded her head slightly toward Nabiki. "I've only had the pleasure of meeting your sister recently – the very last evening in fact."

"Ah, I see," Akane said monotonously. It escaped her at first but now Nabiki has realized that ever since they have ran into her, she has been unconsciously straitening her back, trying to be as poised and refined as possible.

'I'm going to get to the bottom of this,' Nabiki thought determinedly.

"Hey listen," she said to Akane. "Keiko-chan and I are going to grab a bite to eat – how about you join us? You guys can tell me how the two of you met?"

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea, Nabiki-chan," Ranma said, trying to stir the conversation into another direction. The look on her fact cleary said she was opposed to the idea. "I'm sure your sister has already made plans for this afternoon. It won't be right to make her tags along like this."

'Too bad,' Nabiki thought vengefully, giving Ranma a threatening glare.

"Non-sense, Keiko-chan," she said with a wave. "I'm sure Akane is curious about how we met as well, right?"

Akane nodded reluctantly but in agreement.

"Then let's get going shall we," Nabiki declared with a note of finality. She took hold of Ranma's hand and dragged her ahead, leaving Akane to rush after them. On the outside she looked as calm as ever but Nabiki could tell Ranma was panicking. It became rather obvious when she tried to pull her arm away from Nabiki's hold. Nabiki interpreted as a sign of fear; Ranma did not want Akane to know that 'Keiko' was actually her in disguise.

'Ah' Nabiki mused; so a few more pieces fell into place. She did not know what was going on yet but she will get the bottom of this

As they got closer and closer to the café, the redhead's tugging on Nabiki's arm became more and more insistent. The girl was getting desperate and they both knew it.

Akane glanced at the two girls walking side-by-side in front of her. Watching how they hold hand, pulling playfully, leaning left and right every once in a while, the youngest Tendo felt a pang of jealously shot through her. In her recent memory, Nabiki was never this easy-going or this open in front of anyone.

'_Not even to her sisters…,' _said a voice in her head.

Akane averted her eyes. She stared at the pavement to make sure she did not step on something and continued following the two in front of her.

…

"Oh we're here!" Nabiki noted cheerfully – almost smugly – pushing open the door and stepping into the chic little café. Ranma followed after her with a strained smile on her face. She held the door open for Akane who gave her a formal expression of thanks before heading inside.

Nabiki waved off the maître d'. She has already decided where she wanted to sit and as for the menus, well, let's just say food was not the first thing on her mind. She walked over to a four-seater by the window and sat down. She smiled pleasantly at Ranma and patted the chair beside her lightly. The redhead took a slight pause before she shuffled into her seat.

Akane sat down on the chair opposite to them, still oblivious to the mounting tension. A waiter came and took their order. Akane and Ranma both ordered tea while Nabiki got a cup of Cappuccino.

"So, Akane," Nabiki began after they all have had a zip of their hot beverages. "How did you first met Keiko-chan?"

"Well," Akane began hesitantly. She looked to Ranma as if asking for permission before continuing. "We kind of met at this bridal training school in Fukuoka,"

"Bridal training school?" Nabiki repeated in surprise; that was not the sort of place she had expected Ranma to frequent – or Akane for that matter. And beside that; it was far too big a coincidence for them to have run into each other… after all, Fukuoka was not only far from here but it was also a rather large ward with many similar school of bridal training. Unless Ranma had actually followed her it was extremely unlikely that—

Nabiki blinked – wait, what if Ranma _had_ followed her? But why? What would be the reason for Ranma to go to such great a length to stalk Akane like that? It did not make sense.

"Anyway, since we were both beginner, we got paired together even though she's one year my senior," Akane continued, unaware of what Nabiki was thinking. She blushed a little as she said the next bit. "Because I can be really clumsy at times, she had to help me out a lot. We got to know each other during trainings and I've sort of adopted her as my upperclassman. We talked heaps and I really confine in her on a lot of things."

"Ah, I see…," Nabiki remarked dryly. So that was Ranma's game – getting to know Akane by pretending to be someone else. That boy has a lot more brain that Nabiki had given him credit for.

Nabiki looked down into her coffee thoughtfully – still, that did not stop her from feeling somewhat hurt about it. So Ranma wanted to know Akane better because he liked her – why could he not just tell her that outright? To get her hope about finding someone who with the same interest as her up like that… it was cruel, even if it was not intentional.

CLANK!

"Excuse me," Nabiki said after abruptly standing up – leaving the broken cup and saucer on the floor as testaments to how sudden she got out of her seat. Ranma stared at her in shock, having only managed to dodge the flying hot liquid by mere centimeters.

"Nabiki!" Akane shouted aloud in surprise – what the heck was going on? What just happened?

Nabiki did not answer her. She turned her tail and ran out, bumping into another table and almost bowling over a bystander in the process.

"Nabiki-chan!" Ranma cried after her but older girl did not stop nor turn around. The redhead spun to the still sitting Akane and addressed her. "If you'd excuse me, Tendo-san,"

Akane nodded lethargically as she was left taking to thin air – what the heck was that all about?

…

* * *

Nabiki fought to regain her balance as she ran down the wet footpath. Yesterday's hard rain took its toll on the ground and she had to struggle for her footing with every step she took. The fact that her eyes were teary and the world was one massive blur to her also did not help. 

Still she ran on.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," the Tendo girl chanted punitively at herself. She was angry – with Ranma, yes, but mostly with herself. She could not believe how quickly she fell for Ranma's lies.

Lost in her tumultuous cloud of disappointment, hurt and regret, Nabiki never saw that puddle coming.

"Offpt," she cried out in pain. Landing on her hands and knees for the third time in the two days was not fun. She stared down at her abused hands and soaked through dress and began crying anew. Then, instead of picking herself up like she usually did, Nabiki, overwhelmed with feelings and half-framed thoughts, allowed herself to collapse to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Perhaps she should just stay here and wallow in her sorrow – maybe that way she would not be falling down anymore.

…

"Nabi— Boss?!"

Nabiki lifted her head blearily; who was that? It took her eyes a moment to focus themselves but she eventually managed to make out the form of a girl standing in front of her. Nabiki blinked a few more time before she recognized the girl; it was Kanao from her art class.

"Are you alright, Boss?" Kanao asked worriedly as she helped Nabiki to stand up. She looked at the other girl with concern. "What happened?"

"It was nothing," Nabiki said quietly. She gave Kanao a half-hearted smile that she knew would not have convinced even the most gullible of girls. "I just fell, that's all."

Like Nabiki had predicted, Kanao did not look convinced. She gave Nabiki a cross look, obviously was not pleased with how dishonest the Tendo girl was being.

Nabiki sighed as she looked down at her attires – soaked to the bone and covered in mud – she knew she did not make the most persuasive of characters. She opened her mouth only to close it; she was too tired; too tired to try to lie, too tired to make up some bullshit to feed this…, this_girl_ whom she has known for only about a month. This girl, who, for some unfathomable reason, was concerned about her, Nabiki Tendo, the Ice Queen, the Heartless Mercenary, the Bitch.

"Please," Nabiki begged. "Can't you just let it go, Kanao-chan? I'm fine really, and I'm just heading home anyway."

Kanao seemed hesitant but she did allow the topic to drop. She looked to the right and appeared to be adjusting her glasses. She did have a rather thoughtful look on her face, though.

"Alright," she conceded but not before quipping in a small words of wisdom before turning around and left. "But you should speak with him soon you know – otherwise whatever misunderstanding or argument you two have will just keep growing bigger and bigger."

Nabiki waved back. She took that advice to heart only to realize a few second later just exactly what it insinuated.

"I'm _not_ having boys' problems!" she protested indignantly. "I don't even have a boyfriend – you know that!"

Kanao did not turn around. She adjusted the shoulder strap of her mini-dress and continued walking away like she had not heard the Tendo girl.

"Mooiii…," Nabiki fumed; damn, that girl was nothing like her other lackeys. Sometimes it looked as if she was not afraid of Nabiki and her reputation. Where did she come from anyway?

She stood there until the sun came out – which was not really that long a wait – before she started heading back to her house. She skipped over a random puddle, feeling better than she had been half an hour ago.

…

* * *

"Nabiki-chan," Kasumi greeted the said girl, smiling serenely all the while. Her perfect smile shifted slightly when she saw the state of her younger sister's clothes. "What happened to your lovely dress?" 

"I just fell into a puddle, Sis," Nabiki said conversationally. "Really, it's no big deal."

"But all that mud…," the long haired girl bemoaned, thinking about what the poor garment must be going through. Still…, a nice warm soak ought to remove most of the dirt without damaging the fabric.

Nabiki shook her head in mock despair as she watch her sister fell into another one of those spaced-out episodes of hers.

"Anyway, I'm going to go take a shower and get change for dinner," Nabiki told Kasumi who nodded absentmindedly. "See you later okay."

"Okay…," Kasumi echoed. She suddenly snapped out of her trance and started after her sister at a hurried scuttle. "Wait, Nabiki! You need to take off that dress of yours and soak it this instance! Nabiki, are you listening to me?"

"Wha?" Nabiki exclaimed in surprise, backing away a bit at the sight of her usually demure sister running start at her.

"Hey Kasumi, is the dinner...," Ranma said as he walked down the stairs. He trailed off as he saw what was happening in front of him. He blinked twice but the image was still there.

What image? Why, that of Nabiki and Kasumi wrestling in the hallway, of course. With Kasumi looking as if she was trying to rip Nabiki's clothes off of her body too boot.

Kasumi stopped for a moment at Ranma's interruption, allowing Nabiki to turn around and stared at the gaping boy in horror.

"This isn't what it looks like!" she yelled, blushing deeply.

Ranma's face said it all. He went from shocked blank to blushing to smirking madly. He quickly tapped down the last three steps of the flight of stairs, smiling teasingly as he did so.

"Hey now – you're stealing my line," he protested – acting like he was totally serious.

Nabiki gave him a smoldering glare. But while her eyes say one thing, the slight curve on her lips told a different story altogether.

Ranma continued grinning like the cat that ate the canary – which, in reality, was not that far from the truth. After all, how many people could say that they have seen Nabiki Tendo being stripped by her demurred older sister Kasumi?

Seeing that her initial tactic was not working, our favorite mercenary girl planted her hands on her hip and started laying into the 'poor' boy.

"Knowing first hand exactly what I'm capable, are you sure you want to be standing there laughing, Saotome?" she threatened him with her best 'Icy Cold Bitch' voice.

It did not faze the boy. Not even one bit.

He cocked his head at her – his face still holding that same maddening grin of his.

"Are you sure you should be standing there _at all_, Nabiki-chan?"

Nabiki blinked at that.

"Why? What's wrong with me standing— what? What are you staring…," she trailed off as she followed his gaze downward and realized what exactly the boy was talking about.

Below her was a familiar sight of her body – the same bumps and curves. Except there were covered only by a strapless black bra and a pair of matching black panties. What happened to her clothes? Wait, Kasumi was…

Oh God.

…

Mortified beyond believe, Nabiki resisted the urge to run off shrieking like a schoolgirl standing half-naked in public. She took a precious few seconds to calm herself before lifting her shin up. She looked Ranma resolutely in the eyes and said.

"I," she began stiffly. "…am going to go get dress. We need to talk so come to my room in ten minutes."

And with that, Nabiki Tendo, clad only in her underwear, marched proudly passed the pigtailed boy and up the stairs behind him.

Ranma did not turn around – he knew better than to watch a girl and her swooshing, shapely, curvaceous, scantily-clad posterior make their way up to the second floor.

After all, it was even harder to get blood off silk than mud.

…

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

"Come on!" Nabiki called out. She was dressed in a comfortable if somewhat breezy pajama and sitting with her legs crossed in front of her on her bed. The girl did not know why she picked that particular piece – nor did she realize why she was sitting in such a suggestive pose, she just knew was doing it.

The door creaked slightly as it slid opened, revealing the pigtailed boy who was waiting behind it. Ranma shuffled in quickly. To Nabiki surprised, the boy did not so much as to even look around her room – which was surprising because even Kanao-chan, when she first came into Nabiki's room, commented upon how Spartan her room looked.

No, the aesthetically impaired jerk just stood there staring at his feet and fidgeting nervously.

"So ahm," Ranma began diffidently. "You said you want to talk to me?"

Nabiki straightened her back a little before scooting over to the edge of the bed.

"Yeah," she replied casually. "What was this morning about? I didn't really give you a chance to explain before but here it is."

"What are you talking about, Nabiki?" Ranma feigned

"Don't give me that, Ranma," Nabiki scoffed, though she did not sound particularly heated when she said it. "You know damn well what I'm talking about. Why have been stalking Akane? Why did you pretend to be her friend? Why did you lie to me?"

The last of the questions held a noticeable amount of accusation more than the others before it. Ranma's face felled a little.

"I, I didn't mean to lie to you. It's just… well… I didn't know how to say it. It's not an easy thing for me, you know," he tried to explain.

"How hard could it be?" Nabiki step in snarkily. "_'Oh, and just so you know, I've been pretending to be interested in modeling just so I can spy on your younger sister.' _See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"It's nothing like that! I _like _modeling. I really do. And I wasn't spying on Akane and…, you're not even listening," he said flatly. He stepped closer to her "I thought you were going to let me explain."

"I was—I am!" she snapped, standing up before stopping suddenly. She bit her lower lip in an attempt to reign in her emotions. "I… I'm…"

'Sorry' – but she did not voice it.

Ranma seemed to know what she meant though.

They just stood there staring at each other in silence unable to think of anything to say.

Slowly, in a trance-like manner, Ranma and Nabiki sat down on the bed. Even with only inches separating them, the two began to calm down again. Still, it was over a minute before anyone of them has said anything.

"I don't really know when it started," Ranma began quietly, staring at a fuchsia-colored plushie of some kind of animal that was on Nabiki's bed. "But it wasn't because I wanted to spy on Akane or anything like that."

Ranma paused to take a breath.

"I found someone. It happened well after wedding-thing we had at the beginning of last year. Who she was is not that important – we didn't have much of a conversation. Basically, she talks and I just listened."

"'Just listened'?" Nabiki queried. "You?"

The pigtailed boy did not take the bait though. He waited until Nabiki settled down before continuing. Of course, by then the grim atmosphere was all but gone. Oh well, it was probably a good thing anyway.

"Anyway – long story short – I learn a lot from here. Random things, you know – tidbits from here and there of her life that applied to me. And slowly, little by little, I began to realize how empty my life is," Ranma drifted off with a sad smile on his face. "Sure, I have half a dozen fiancées. But more than half of them were arranged by Pop. Sure I have the Art but I pour so much of myself into it I don't even know if I would've _liked_ anything else, simply because I've never tried them."

"My life was like that of a manga character; my name is Ranma Saotome. I practice martial art. I have rivals and potential partners. I have special moves. I have an over-used saying that I keep repeating like a mantra. But who am I really? I mean, what's my favorite color? What kind of food do I like? What kind of fiction do I read? What's my hobby? What do I want to be when I grow up? What's my dream? Do I even have a dream?"

Ranma gazed imploringly at her after saying all that but Nabiki did not know what to say.

"My life is like a commercialized romantic comedy, Nabiki," the boy told her in a lost tone, leaning closer to her until their faces were almost touching. "It's neither romantic nor funny – it's just a badly written script of something sad and ironic and I'm just an amateur actor who's standing there reading the lines soullessly."

"I want to live! To breathe, to feel, to dream… to have a life of my own choosing, not one that has been cookie-cut from my Pop's disenchanted dream…," Ranma trailed off as he looked away, whispering softly now. "That's why I've invented Keiko Shirayuki. The fact that she's a girl who's good at tea-ceremony and like modeling comes later, influenced by the world she lived in and not just force-fed from someone else."

…

That seemed to be the end of Ranma's impromptu soliloquy. Nabiki allowed the words to wash over her mind a couple of times before finding herself with a single remaining question that was still left unanswered.

"So who are you?" Nabiki asked straightforwardly. "Ranma or Keiko?"

Ranma contemplated that for few moments before answering.

"I donno… both? Neither? Take you pick, I guess," he turned to her and said with an exasperated smile. Nabiki leaned over and looked him in the eyes.

"Do you enjoy this Ranma? Living a lie?" Nabiki asked.

"I'm not living a lie, Nabiki. I'm looking at the truth from two different viewpoints," Ranma countered, still not backing down. "Whatever I've said as Keiko or as Ranma – I always mean it."

"Oh, really now?" the girl countered, pushing slightly more forward still.

"Yes," he reaffirmed, moving forward in respond to her.

At this point their noses were centimeters away from touching each other. Nabiki could feel Ranma's hot breath on her skin and she was pretty sure he could hear her racing heartbeats. The situation was spiraling out of control. Somehow she managed to find herself on bed with her sister's gorgeous fiancé dressed only in a flimsy pajama, feeling all hot and bothered.

"Back off," she whispered, her voice shook throatily.

"You back off," he countered in the same quiet tone, somehow ended up moving even closer to her.

Oh wait, was that him or her that moved?

_Thud-thud, thud-thud._

Suddenly the door flew opened.

Both of them jerked their heads into that direction and were equally shocked when they both saw who just entered.

"Nabiki! Dinner's ready…," Akane froze in absolute astonishment as she took in the sight of her sister and fiancé sitting in a close proximity to each other on a bed, looking like they were being intimate.

Before Nabiki and Ranma could even get a word out, Akane spun around and ran.

"Akane!" Ranma called out. He moved to chase after the said girl but stopped when Nabiki laid an arm on his shoulder.

"Don't," Nabiki said sternly with a shake of her head. She stood up and walked over to the door. "I'll go talk to her for you."

"Right... for me, eh? What's that going to cost me this time?" Ranma quibbled, annoyed at how his luck works most of the time.

"Nothing much…," Nabiki called out as she slipped out of sight. "…just a date."

Unbeknownst to her, Ranma, whose heart was starting to beat at a moderate pace again, just had a cold sweat.


End file.
